s'attarder

Definition & meaning

S’attarder is a pronominal verb with two main meanings:

1. To linger or stay somewhere longer than intended
   Elle s’est attardée au café. — “She lingered at the café.”

2. To dwell on, spend time on, or give prolonged attention to something
   Ne nous attardons pas sur les détails. — “Let’s not dwell on the details.”

It can also mean to be delayed or to take a long time, depending on context.

Grammar & Word origin

S’attarder is made up of the reflexive pronoun se and attarder. It comes from tard, meaning “late.” The underlying idea is to remain or continue until later than expected.

It is used with reflexive pronouns: je m’attarde, tu t’attardes, il/elle s’attarde. In the compound past, it takes être: elle s’est attardée. The past participle agrees with the subject when required.

Common constructions include s’attarder à something and s’attarder sur something.

Synonyms & antonyms

• rester ↗ — “to stay”; more neutral and does not necessarily suggest staying longer than planned.
• traîner ↗ — “to hang around” or “to dawdle”; often more informal and can imply wasting time.
• s’attacher à ↗ — “to focus on” or “to take an interest in”; emphasizes attention or attachment rather than prolonged discussion.
• s’attarder sur ↗ — “to dwell on”; specifically emphasizes spending time discussing or considering something.

Possible antonyms:

• se hâter [?](vocabuo://word/se hâter) — “to hurry”; the clearest opposite when s’attarder means to linger.
• partir ↗ — “to leave”; an opposite in contexts about remaining somewhere, though it does not itself mean “to hurry.”

Common phrases & collocations

• s’attarder sur un détail [?](vocabuo://word/s’attarder sur un détail) — to dwell on a detail
• s’attarder à table [?](vocabuo://word/s’attarder à table) — to linger at the table
• ne pas s’attarder [?](vocabuo://word/ne pas s’attarder) — not to linger; to move on quickly